Effective mental health service ecosystems: The role of collaborative professional networks.

This project has been developed in response to damning findings regarding the efficacy of mental health service delivery in England. Since 2008, statutory funding/support for mental health has been delivered via the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service, which was developed in order to 'solve' the nation's 'epidemic' of mental illness. However, recent NHS data (see NHS, 2016) indicates that this has so far failed to deliver on multiple grounds, with a total successful penetration into the 'sick' population of only about 2.5%. This is in addition to a reported relapse rate of approximately 50% in those who undergo initially 'successful' interventions (Ali et al., 2017). Lengthy waiting times have also been highlighted as problematic, with an average wait to first appointment of 26 days and an average wait to second appointment of 31 days. It has thus been found that any benefit from the first session will typically be entirely lost in the long wait to the second session (NHS, 2016).

Such findings appear indicative of the need for an overhaul of the ecosystem in which national health policy is conceived. The health service system as a whole has already been undergoing significant change, designed to reduce costs and enhance patient experience (Zolkiewski, 2004; 2011). An increased focus on the role of collaborative working in primary care is evidenced by the emergence of Federations, essentially business-to-business collaborations which form, communicate and collectively prioritise actions and reach decisions. Findings linked to an earlier successful CASE studentship supervised by Hunter-Jones and Zolkiewski found that, when working effectively, such collaborations can result in increased funding and sustained, if not enhanced, service delivery (Sinton et al., 2017).

In light of such findings, in 2016, the research team behind this studentship began researching the existence of collaborative working in Merseyside-based mental health services. This research included events in May 2017, in which 120 organisations participated, and in November 2017, in which sixty participated. Discussions were dominated by an appetite to share, learn from each other, and build upon success stories. This led to the development of a community of practice, a professional network with an interest in collaboration and communication.

This study is designed to explore the role of collaborative professional networks within an effective mental health service ecosystem. Research will look closely at the emergent network and the service ecosystem in which it is based. Existing examples of collaboration models in health care will be investigated in order to establish how the network might be developed to best serve the needs of the community. This will involve direct engagement with actors and the employment of qualitative methodologies, such as case studies and interviews.


Research Objectives:
To identify and evaluate the statutory and non-statutory service ecosystem linked to mental health care, past and present.
To investigate the existence of collaborative professional networks within the mental health service ecosystem.
To empirically question the contribution a collaborative professional network might make to an effective mental health service ecosystem.
To contribute to the empirical evidence-base associated with professional networks, particularly in relation to service ecosystems.